Obituary - Current Affairs for April, 2017

Obituary Current Affairs for April, 2017

Month wise coverage of Obituary Current Affairs helps you improve your general knowledge and prepare for all competitive exams like IBPS, Bank PO, SBI PO, RRB, RBI, LIC, Specialist Officer, Clerk, SSC, UPSC, Railway etc. This section is updated daily with the most important events.

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Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs, has died in New York at the age of 73.

His publicist confirmed he died from complications from oesophageal cancer. Born in 1944, Demme’s other features included Philadelphia, Something Wild and the Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense.

Demme’s own Oscar was for best director for The Silence of the Lambs in 1992.

The second film to feature serial killer Hannibal Lecter, it is one of only three films to win the so-called “big five” Oscars.

As well as best director, the 1991 film was named best picture, won a screenplay prize and saw both of its lead actors honoured.

Robert M. Pirsig, author of the influential 1970s philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance died on 24th April at the age of 88.

William Morrow & Co executive editor Peter Hubbard said in a statement that Pirsig's wife Wendy had confirmed his death at his home in Maine.

Published in 1974 after being rejected by more than 100 other publishers, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was the father-son story of a motor-cycle trip across the western United States.

Loosely autobiographical, it also contained flashbacks to a period in which the author was diagnosed as schizophrenic.

The book quickly became a best-seller.

Its protagonist set out to resolve the conflict between classic values that create machinery, such as a motorcycle, and romantic values, such as experiencing the beauty of a country road.

Born in Minneapolis, Pirsig had a high IQ and graduated high school at the age of 15.

He earned a degree in philosophy and also worked as a technical writer and instructor of English before being hospitalized for mental illness in the early 1960s.

His philosophical thinking and personal experiences during these years, including a 1968 motorcycle trip across the US West with his eldest son, Christopher, formed the core of the narrative of the novel.

Pirsig worked on the sequel, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals for 17 years before its publication in 1991. The story traced a sailboat journey taken by two fictitious characters along America’s eastern coast.

Pirsig lived the last 30 years in South Berwick, Maine and is survived by his wife Wendy, two children and three grandchildren. His son Chris died in 1979.

Robert M.Pirsig: Know More

Robert Maynard Pirsig was an American writer and philosopher, and the author of the philosophical novels Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals.

Robert Taylor, a computer scientist who was instrumental in the creation of the internet and modern computer, has died. He was 85.

Taylor, who had suffered from Parkinson's disease, died on April 13th 2017 at his home in Woodside, California.

While many people played a role in building the internet, few made as many contributions as Taylor.

As a researcher for the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1966, Taylor created Arpanet, a single computer network to link each project with the others that would evolve into what we now know as the internet.

Taylor correctly predicted the network would one day become an efficient and necessary utility for the public.

In 1970, Taylor moved on to Xerox's famous Palo Alto Research Centre, where he oversaw design and creation of the Alto, considered a pioneer in personal computers.

Taylor's team also developed the networking technology Ethernet and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get word processing program called Bravo that would become the basis for Microsoft Word.

Taylor also played a key role in the creation of the computer mouse.

Taylor also developed AltaVista search engine in 1995, two years before Google was founded.

Robert Taylor : Know More

Taylor was born in Dallas on Feb. 10, 1932.

After serving in the US Navy Reserve during the Korean War, Taylor returned to his studies.

He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1999, Taylor was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for visionary leadership.

In 2004, he and other PARC researchers were awarded the National Academy of Engineering's Draper Prize for development of "the first practical networked personal computers."

Besides this, Indian shuttlers too won many laurels during his regime.

His tenure as president of the Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association and the chairman of the UP Badminton Association in the recent past allegedly remained controversial.

He also had stakes in real estate, media and several educational institutions aside from an active interest in politics and sports.

Das, who is a former badminton player, was also the chairman of Badminton Association of India.

The educational institutions he had a stake in include engineering, management, medical and even a university named after his father in Lucknow.

BAI: Know More

Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the governing body of badminton in India.

BAI is an association registered under the societies act.

It was formed in 1934, and has been holding national-level tournaments in India since 1936.

BAI has 28 state members that conduct badminton tournaments and have a 2x voting power compared to the 8 affiliate members, who do not conduct tournaments and have a single vote each in the association.

Literary critic M Achuthan passed away on 9 April 2017 following age-related illness at a private hospital in Kochi. He was 87. He is survived by his wife and daughters.

Achuthan began his career as a critic by challenging the views of literary stalwarts Kuttikrishna Marar and Joseph Mundassery.

Achuthan had 10 works to his credit.

His book on the poems of Edassery is one of his noted works. His works include ‘Swathanthrya Samaravum Malayala Sahithyavum’, ‘Paschathya Sahitya Darshanam’ and ‘Cherukadha Innale Innu’ among others.

He had also served various stints in his career including his term as the Chief Public Relations Officer of the state, as the Director of State Institute of Publications, as the President of Sahithya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham and as the President of Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishat.

He translated Thousand and One Nights into Malayalam.

He was awarded with the Sahitiya Akademi award in 1976 for his literary works.

Born in June 1930, Achuthan completed his MA in Malayalam Literature with first rank.

Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passed away on April 4, 2017 after a brief illness. She was 84.

Born on April 10, 1932 here, Amonkar was recognised as one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and as an innovative exponent of the Jaipur gharana.

A gharana is a group of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style.

Amonkar's mother was the well-known vocalist Mogubai Kurdikar, who trained under Alladiya Khan Saheb, the doyen of the Jaipur gharana.

She was known primarily for her skillful singing of classical khayal songs set in the traditional ragas of Hindustani music, but also performed the lighter classical thumri repertoire, bhajan, devotional songs and film music.

In recognition of her contribution to the arts, she received many awards, including the Padma Bhushan (1987) and Padma Vibhushan (2002), two of India's top civilian honours.

In 2010, she became a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national academy of music, arts, and dance.

American artist Gilbert Baker who created the rainbow flag is recognized across the world as a symbol of gay pride.

Baker, who was 65, came up with the iconic eight-coloured banner for San Francisco's 1978 gay freedom day, a precursor to the modern pride festival, having taught himself to sew in his 20s.

The former soldier was deeply involved within the San Francisco LGBT rights movement and was a close friend of murdered activist and politician Harvey Milk.

The artist had died in his sleep at his home in New York on 30th March 2017.

Baker, born in Kansas in 1951, served for two years in the army, according to his website, and was stationed him in San Francisco just as the gay liberation movement was gathering momentum.

Gilbert Baker: Know More

Born: 2 June 1951, Chanute, Kansas, United States

Died: 31 March 2017, New York City, New York, United States

Residence: New York City, New York, United States

Movies: Milk

Chronology of events

James Rosenquist, a leading pioneer of Pop Art passed away in New York. He was 83. He was known for appropriating industrial painting methods to cultivate his bold, graphic style. He had transitioned from a commercial sign-painter to a fine artist.

Veteran Malayalam actor Munshi Venu passed away on April 13, at a palliative care centre at Chalakudy, Thrissur. The 63-year-old actor suffered a kidney failure and was undergoing a dialysis treatment for the same.

Progressive rock and jazz fusion guitar pioneer Allan Holdsworth passed away on 15 April 2017 in California, U.S. He was 70.